Ansatsusha
by Void Matrix
Summary: Trunks and Pan are killers in a less than favorable light both to themselves and those around them. For one, it is a way of life. For the other, it is a way of survival.
1. Before the Holocaust

A/N. This is the result of an attempt at prewriting done about a month ago and posted whether or not my sorry attempt at advertising does any good. But, seriously, I am going to try and write this well, not just throw something down. If you have any questions, comments, or flames that can help me straighten out the plot line (What plot line?) and figure out what I am doing, please e-mail me at flashfire_dragon@yahoo.com ok? Thanks!

I was never born. Thoughtless, heartless humans will tell me that it is a good thing to not have a mother, not have a family. I was made in hatred and cold blood, something no one else can say. I was born not in the passion of love or lust, but in a passion for revenge. My father hated me like none but one, and his hatred spawned by fear of me, his child, his creation, erupted in the violence that was the first thing my calculating mind ever realized. Jero, my father, did fail at one thing, however. That thing was the fact that I do have a shard of family. My brother is the only support I have in this world, the only thing that can ever hold me together in my rages. He does not feel anger as I do; only having knowledge of when to kill and when to spare. I only kill, my anger and rage never tolerating of such things as fear and weakness. I must give my respects to the one named Goku for being the one thing my father feared more than he did me. Before I kill him, of course.

Vegeta meditated. This was the last day of peace, the last day of solitude. His infant son was hidden away along with his mate and the offspring and mate of Kakarotto. His mate, Bulma, would never survive his death but he hoped that Chichi, who had survived Goku's passing, would raise his son. Trunks would always remember his name and his parents, but he would not know his parents, as he should. Vegeta felt he would die, felt it in his bones. He could only hope Trunks really was old enough to remember his name. A light tapping brought him out of his depressed reverie. "Open," he commanded the computer in a voice that had deepened with age and maturity. The door slid up, and there stood his mate, tears evident on her cheeks. Vegeta jumped up.

"You are not to be here, Bulma. You should be where you are safe, you know that." A compassion he had always harbored but feared now possessed him, driving him to where the woman stood and enfolding her in his arms. Now she sobbed openly against his chest and the Saiya-jin Prince rocked her quietly, inwardly amazed at his own audacity. He ran a callused and scarred had over her azure hair, the softness of it comforting him even now as her considered the sacrilege of touching her in this… tenderness. It confused him that only now, years later and on the eve of his doom, could Vegeta come to terms with his love for her. 

The woman in his arms quieted gradually and turned her eyes up to his face, the cerulean of them nearly drowning him. "Vegeta…" His name on her voice was calming and entrancing at the same time. "You know it doesn't matter."

This was an obvious truth he refused to deny her. "We could make it. We could. They've only been alive for a couple days and - "

Bulma effectively silenced him with a single finger over his lips. Sadness enshrouded her aura, tainting her eyes and expression. "How long they have been activated has nothing to do with it, Vegeta."

He spoke through her finger, the sensation of his lips moving against them sparking a sudden need he wasn't aware of before. "They learn, Bulma. They haven't learned much yet and we might win. We have to."

A shiver ran through her body, so slight that if he had not been holding her he would have missed it. Whether it originated from the same desire that had flashed through him or from fear he could not tell. "It doesn't matter." She leaned against him, laying her head upon his chest in a gesture of trust that even now shocked him no matter how often she did it. "You're going to die, and so am I."

Vegeta chuckled. "Since when are you a prophet? How do you know what will and won't happen?"

The girl slammed a fist against his chest in irritation, a gesture that certainly hurt her more than it had hurt him. "Damn it Vegeta, stop joking! I know since Videl and Gohan disappeared. I know since the world we used to know crumbled. Isn't that good enough for you, Vegeta?" She burst into tears again abruptly, eyes locked with Vegeta's despite the tears. "If you die, so do I, with or without the bond. Maybe you didn't realize this before, but I would love you without needing to. You never forced this upon me."

Specters from the past fell away suddenly, their haunting no longer having a hold. He had bonded the woman in an attempt to assure Kakarotto never tried to kill him if the other Saiya-jin decided his word wasn't worth the effort of allowing Vegeta to live. Bonds, being what they are, brought the two gradually closer, but Vegeta had always blamed himself for chaining the woman he now loved. "You… would?" Not needing an answer he lifted her face to his own and kissed her cheeks, slowing licking away her salt tears, then lowering his lips to her own. The earlier passion flared undeniably high, demanding, merciless. Bulma pulled the Saiya-jin prince backwards slowly, to the ground. Their final night together would have been one to remember had either lived long enough to look back on it, for the next day Vegeta challenged the androids and lost terribly. 

Bulma felt all of his deathblows, allowing the final one to throw her into shock resulting in cardiac arrest. Trunks was alone with Chichi, who died of the same disease that claimed her husband when he was five. In Otherworld, Vegeta made a sword infused with the negative element of ki, managing to deliver it to his son in exchange for calling in every favor he was ever owed. Using this sword he finds in a dream, Trunks locks into a final battle with the androids which he won by accident when the aura of the sword drained both of them simultaneously. Granted revenge, the young Saiya-jin was then alone.

A/N. Well, what do you think so far? This is only the beginning of Trunks' history, and the next chapter will concern Pan's beginnings.


	2. Shattered Souls and Broken Futures

A/N. This is an author's note. Can you tell? I am using Word97 and it makes all these squiggly lines everywhere if I used slang and it is really annoying so I am not going to bother with it, okay? I know it will be so traumatizing and all to lose it, but oh well. Review this fic, PLEASE. It is really important since the idea for this is an all-original idea and I am writing it without anyone's help at all. This part of the story occurs while the androids are still active. This is Pan's past.

Despite the fact that explosions still growled in the distance like a tiger trapped behind a wall with its cub on the other side, Videl was on the move. Her cold blue eyes saw everything, evaluated everything. Nothing escaped her notice, she saw even the tiniest scavengers that could warn her of the approach of another human being. The creatures of this part of the sewer were accustomed to her approach and knew she would ignore them, knew that she wouldn't try snatching them up like others of the tunnels did. Videl had been in hiding for the better part of a year, and the months of worrying about what would happen to her baby were past. Her child, Gohan's child, couldn't be born in this place of pestilence and disease. Videl was on her way to the surface. She was going to go to the place where the androids still amused themselves with the blowing up of everything around them. Everything that once signified humankind now signified a cowardly, timid race sharing space with the rats.

A sudden disappearance of rodents, though not actively alarming, instantly set her on the edge. She was still in the areas she frequented. The creatures here should still be used to her presence, accustomed to her. The fact that they were in hiding could only mean one thing. Another human was sharing the space near her. Or an android was. A tentative contraction flickered through her, but she ignored it, beginning to draw upon her fighter's training to ignore the pain. Slowly a dark shape solidified, coming towards her down the tunnel. The figure was just as silent, just as practiced in movement as she was. Usually the people in hiding as she was avoided each other if it was in any way possible. However, there were cases in which a human who was driven from their respective territories by a bigger, stronger individual would snatch a stretch of sewer from one of the weaker humans, like Videl. She shrank against the wall, praying that remaining motionless would prove effective camouflage in the darkness surrounding her.

As it was passing her, the slight and cautious but heavily armed man froze and spun towards her. Videl instantly stopped the shallow breathing she had hoped would prevail against detection. Halfway growling, halfway muttering under his breath, he stepped closer, then spun away and darted down the underground passage, evidently sacrificing silence for safety from the unknown. The woman hissed in a breath and continued her journey to the surface.

A small, very dirty child skittered back to the gathering of people who awaited his information. Whether it was a he or a she was as yet indeterminable, and the high, piping voice was androgynous. "Woman. Fat. She is slow." He/she/it giggled, and faded back into the group. The others turned to look at their leader, a small but wiry and obviously tough woman of about eighteen or twenty. She considered for a moment, then stood solidly and stared down the tunnel, waiting for the appearance of this strange woman who no one knew anything about and had never come there before. Amaya was only called that because one of the older women of the band had a daughter of that name. The daughter had died in the Neo-Holocaust and evidently everyone decided she should have the ancient name. 

Soon a shadow, slipping along the wall, solidified from the darkness no one really grew used to. The people behind her immediately began their whispered comments she could not help but hear in their native languages. "Nanka atta-no?" Yoku wakaranai." "Nani kono baba?" "Yoku iu-yo!" "Damatte-yo!" Amaya dropped down from her high perch to land in front of the other woman, standing casually. The two stood eye to eye for a long moment, then the impossible occurred. Amaya, perhaps sensing something no one else did, backed away, giving the strange woman room to pass unchallenged. The intruder quickly hastened past and was gone from their sight and their lives as quickly as she came.

Gohan disdained the safer yet disgusting Underground, and therefore was at constant risk. He never flew anymore knowing from harsh experience that such an action would prove as though he was waving a huge bullseye around his head. Wherever the androids were, he walked carefully and in shadow. Gohan checked in often with Bulma's now bachelor father Dr. Briefs, and today was one of those appointments. Unfortunately, it involved following the Underground for a good mile but it was the last true safehouse. Now he was enclosed in the cloying darkness that was trademark to what most people now considered safety.

Dr. Briefs was, as always, happy to see him. However, today he seemed strangely overjoyed. Before Gohan could ask what had happened, however, the energetic old man started talking so fast the young Saiya-jin had trouble keeping up with his line of communication. It was, however, painfully clear. "Nani?"

Briefs looked at his adopted grandson sadly. "Videl was brought here. She gave birth to your daughter, Gohan. I told her you were still alive, and she just left. She did, however, tell me to let you know she was coming."

"I have a daughter? Oh Kami, Videl! I should have bonded her when I had the chance!" Gohan had thought to woman he loved was dead, and the news that she was not only alive but the fact he had a daughter was overwhelming. "Are you sure she is my daughter?"

The old man smiled. "Yes Gohan. I am sure. She has the same old Son grin. Also she looks just like your father, not like her mother at all."

Sitting slowly, Gohan lowered his head into his hands. "She's alive…"

Hercule still lived in relative style, in a small house in an area that the androids, having utterly ruined at first, now seemed to avoid. When he answered the door one day, ki negator in hand, it was nearly the shock of his life to see his daughter standing there, in tattered but relatively clean clothes, holding a baby. Tears filled both of their eyes slowly, and tenderly Hercule embraced his daughter. "Where have you been, musume?"

Videl just sobbed.

(Four months later)

"You can't be serious about leaving. Look at your child. She may have learned to eat real food quickly, but that does not change the fact that she needs you. Pan can barely crawl!" Hercule pleaded to Videl, who stood by the door. The woman spared a moment to glance lovingly at the little girl who was even now dragging herself towards her mother with a single-minded determination that would have done Vegeta proud. When she finally did reach Videl's feet she stared up at her mother with a face she otherwise would have attributed to reproach. However, she knew it was just that her daughter was hungry. One thing she had learned from Chichi before she died was that Saiya-jin babies matured quickly but learning to talk was not one of their priorities.

Videl sighed. "Father, you know I have to do this. He didn't mean to leave me like you think he did. You don't know how he was forced to leave me. He had a responsibility to save the world."

Hercule winced. He always took credit for everything the Z gang had ever done and it was this fact that led a younger Gohan to confront him, resulting in the meeting between the young Son and his daughter. "But he didn't even try and find you. Plus, they never found his body."

"Father, I never tried to find him, either, and I was pregnant with his fucking _daughter._ What does that say about me?" Videl spun on him, all rage suddenly.

"I just want what's best for you."

"What's best for me is finding out if the man I love is alive. Without that…" She met his eyes fearlessly. "Without that I wouldn't last long enough to hear her first words."

Her father bowed his head. "I will care for my granddaughter." He stooped over and lifted the child into his arms; the miniscule Pan dwarfed even more by the man's huge hands.

Videl bowed, and left him standing there holding her daughter.

(Two weeks later)

Gohan paced the room. He had stayed with Briefs for all this time, and Videl still had not appeared. "I should go and look for her."

The old man sighed. "Gohan, you'll never find her. If you were bonded to her you might, but you aren't. If you can find her, _they_ can." There was no question whom he meant by "they" since there were only two entities in the world Gohan was concerned with finding Videl. The Saiya-jin had thought he had felt her ki flash once, distantly, but it hadn't lasted long enough for him to get a focus on it and now there was really no telling whether or not it really had been her. He had to leave. Now, before he went insane waiting.

"If you see her, tell her to wait for me this time." Gohan was out of the door and in the Underground before Briefs could even think of a proper response to that statement. Once outside, he got the shock of his life. 

17 and 18 stood, obviously waiting for his appearance. 17 tossed a videotape from one hand to the other nonchalantly, grinning the most evil smile Gohan had ever seen before in his life. 18 stepped forward, flipping her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "Hello, Gohan. Surprised to see old friends?" She punched in the gut so hard he saw stars. Then, mercifully, she backed away to let him crumple to the ground uninterrupted. 17 dropped the tape beside him then backed away without even kicking him though he lay helpless on the ground. The black-haired android chuckled evilly, "She died well, Saiya-jin. You should be proud."

He knew, just _knew_ whom they were talking about. Before he could think of a coherent argument why they were wrong, 18 was back. Jerking him up by the hair, she glared into his face. "Goku's son, we have no reason to fake it. If we hadn't found her, we wouldn't know about her. If we did find her, what better satisfaction than to kill her and watch you crumble." Dropping him back into the dirt she and her brother blasted off. Woodenly, he collected his wits, the tape, and Transmission to Briefs. 

Apparently yanked from a daydream, the elder looked at Gohan, then stiffened. Evidently the tears he felt flowing down his face were real, not imagined. Briefs gently took the tape from him without comment and retired to a private area of this lab/hospital. Gohan collapsed on the floor, damning the Saiya-jin hearing that enabled him to hear everything, each taunt and insult they threw at her before finally just blasting her. 18's last words on the tape echoed endlessly in his ears. "Damn you, 17. Now we don't have anything to show Gohan for our troubles except this damn tape. Damn stupid android." Then she laughed, and laughed, and laughed…

Hercule received word of this development nearly the same day. The rage that consumed him obliterated all reason, and he stopped on his search for the androids only to make sure his granddaughter was asleep, safely tucked away for her nap. Considering he never came back, this precaution was largely unnecessary. 

A/N. Hey, guess what? This is longer than normal. I know I skipped a day to upload but hopefully it is worth it. I am going to start really updating Tejina Kurai soon so anyone who reads that will be relieved there really isn't need to strangle me when I least expect it. Well, what do you think of this? Huh? Oh, I meant to warn you, I am going to use Nihon0go freely in this fic. I will, however, keep a ready translation key down here. This is because since this is mostly a fic I keep for my own personal enjoyment I'm going to practice my slowly growing vocabulary.

Nanka atta-no? - What's going on?

Yoku wakaranai - I'm not sure

Nani kono baba? - What's that old woman doing?

Yoku iu-yo! - How dare you say that!

Damatte-yo! - Shut up!

musume - daughter


End file.
